Paralympics New Zealand initiative wins marketing award

Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) Spirit of Gold® Initiative won top honours in the not-for-profit category at the 2016 TVNZ New Zealand Marketing Awards, the country’s most prestigious national industry awards.

The win recognised the success of this initiative over the past year. PNZ was also named a Judges Choice finalist in the areas of ‘Insight’, ‘Sustainability’, ‘Marketing Leadership’ and for very strong evidence showing that Spirit of Gold® had been ‘Transformational’ for PNZ.

“Next Thursday morning, 31 exceptionally talented Para athletes will enter the Maracana Stadium, ready to bring home gold for New Zealand at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games,” said Rachel Froggatt, Paralympics New Zealand Commercial & Marketing Director.

“It has been an honour for us to be able to bring their stories to life over the past year through the Spirit of Gold® Initiative.

“To win a TVNZ New Zealand Marketing Award less than a year after launching the Spirit of Gold® Initiative is overwhelming and I must commend the enormous effort put in by the entire Paralympics New Zealand team.

“The exceptional commitment of everyone, spanning from operations to high performance to senior management and the Board has been the key reason for this success.”

PNZ launched the initiative on 7 September 2015, marking ‘1 year to go’ until Rio 2016, as a new long-term strategy to drive awareness and increase community engagement with Para sport.

It is also designed to raise funds to provide for the New Zealand Team heading to Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and beyond, and to help fund community Para sport programmes seeking to find the Paralympians of tomorrow.

Some highlights within the Spirit of Gold® Initiative have included the extensive nationwide Para sport road show in partnership with the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce and PNZ’s other commercial partners, which kicked off at a dinner with Prime Minister, John Key, in November 2015.

During the tour, which lasted until July 2016, PNZ visited 85 schools, business and public spaces in all four corners of New Zealand, interacting with more than 120 thousand people live and reaching 14 million via media and social media.

At the heart of the Tour was a set of 12 portraits featuring some of New Zealand’s most high-profile Paralympians and Para athletes, donated by kiwi artist Amber Stephens.

Over the past 12 months, 15 well-known brands have joined PNZ as commercial partners, becoming involved in the Spirit of Gold® Initiative.

Following the addition of Major Partners ACC, Sanford and Cadbury last September, PNZ has also welcomed a number of new Supporting Partners, including Invacare, Harvey Norman, Visa and Maersk Line, and re-signed with partners Adecco and Blue Star.

“I am incredibly proud of everything that the Paralympics New Zealand team has been able to achieve,” said Fiona Allan, PNZ Chief Executive.

“Not only are we supporting Para athletes to achieve medal-winning performances, we have also essentially delivered a gold medal in our marketing and commercial programme.

“I especially want to acknowledge and thank our Paralympic Family of Partners for their support. Without their commitment and passion, we certainly would not be where we are today.”

More information on the Spirit of Gold Initiative and on how to support New Zealand’s Paralympians in Rio can be found on website. http://www.paralympics.org.nz/Events/Calendar-of-Events/Events/paralympics-new-zealand-spirit-of-gold174-initiative-wins-2016-tvnz-new-zealand-marketing-award

__

Sport fans from around the world can now buy their Paralympic tickets for Rio 2016 from authorised ticket resellers (ATRs)

The IPC’s Global ATR is Jet Set Sports, and Rio 2016 tickets and packages can be purchased on the CoSport website.

Residents of Brazil can buy 2016 Paralympics tickets directly from the Rio 2016 website.

Visa International is the exclusive payment card and the official payment system for the Paralympic Games.